A neighbour at a recent visiting orchestra’s Edinburgh Festival concert asked me what I thought of the atonal frenzy in the pre-performance free-for-all; warm-up scales mingled with sneak peeks at tricky passages. My response was that a school orchestra would not be allowed to do this.

Love was definitely in the air at Freddy Kempf’s St. Valentine’s Day Concert. He gave a passion-filled performance of Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor, Op. 13, ‘Pathétique’ to open the night, which was fitting with the nature of the title. The true ‘Pathétique’ should have passionate expression that should be felt by the heart and transcend mere variations in tempo.

Last night’s concert with the RPO under the baton of Artistic Director Charles Dutoit began with Mussorgsky’s orchestral showpiece, Night on a Bare Mountain. The piece describes the dreadful antics of three witches as they await the Devil’s appearance on a spooky mountain top.